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POL 224Y1: Canada in Comparative Perspective Course Outline Fall 2015 & Winter 2016 (Section L5101)

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POL 224Y1: Canada in Comparative Perspective Course Outline Fall 2015 & Winter 2016 (Section L5101) Department of Political Science University of Toronto POL 224Y1: Canada in Comparative Perspective Course Outline Fall 2015 & Winter 2016 (Section L5101) Class Time: Tuesdays, 6{8 PM Class Location: MS 3153 (Medical Sciences Building 3153) Instructor: Prof. Ludovic Rheault Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Wednesdays, 3{5 PM Office Location: Sidney Smith 3005 Course Description This course introduces students to Canadian politics using a comparative approach. It pro- vides essential knowledge about the variety of political regimes around the world, with con- crete examples emphasizing the comparison of Canada with other countries. Topics covered include the evolution of democracies, political institutions, electoral systems, voting, ideology, the role of the state in the economy, as well as contemporary issues such as social policies, representation and inequalities. The objective of the course is twofold. First, the aim is for students to acquire practi- cal knowledge about the functioning of democracies and their implications for society, the Canadian society in particular. Second, the goal is to get acquainted with the core theories of political science. By extension, this implies becoming familiar with the scientific method, from the conception of theoretical arguments to data analysis and empirical testing. By the end of this course, students should have gained considerable expertise about politics and be more confident about their scientific skills. Course Format The course comprises lectures given in class on Tuesdays, combined with tutorials chaired by teaching assistants (TAs) roughly every two weeks. The precise schedule for tutorials will be determined at the beginning of the course. Tutorials provide students with opportunities to participate actively in the discussions undertaken during the lectures, and to prepare for evaluations. Contact Policy Questions about the course material can be asked on the Blackboard portal for the course or in person during my office hours. Emails should be used for administrative and formal purposes, as they are sub-optimal for providing feedback and tailored explanations. For questions regarding tutorial attendance or your grade on an assignment, please contact your TA first. 1 Marking Scheme Written Assignment #1 20% Due: November 17, 2015 Examination #1 25% December 2015 Exam Period Written Assignment #2 20% Due: March 15, 2016 Examination #2 25% April 2016 Exam Period Tutorial Participation 10% All year long Readings Required Rand Dyck and Christopher Cochrane. 2013. Canadian Politics: Critical Approaches. 7th Ed. Toronto: Nelson Educa- tion. ◦ Available at the UofT Bookstore, online as an e-book, and at the Robarts Library in the Course Reserve. ◦ Abbreviated as DC below. Selected Readings on Blackboard. ◦ To complement the textbook and add a comparative dimension, a selection of relevant papers and book chapters will be made available electronically to students on the Blackboard page for this course. Copyright permissions have been obtained for those documents, and students are allowed to consult them freely. ◦ Those readings are numbered from #1 to #12 below. Optional William Roberts Clark, Matt Golder and Sona Nadenichek Golder. 2013. Principles Of Comparative Politics. 2nd Ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage. ◦ Available at the Bookstore, online as an e-book, and at the Robarts Library in the Course Reserve. Other Useful General References P. Russell, F. Rocher, D. Thompson and L. White, Eds. 2010. Essential Readings in Canadian Government and Politics. Toronto: Emond Publishing. Mark Charlton and Paul Barker, Eds. 2012. Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues. Toronto: Nelson Education. James Bickerton and Alain-G. Gagnon, Eds. 2014. Canadian Politics. 6th Ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Evaluations Tutorial Participation Tutorials are designed to foster students' involvement in the learning process, providing them with an opportunity to express positions on the topics discussed during lectures. The class will be divided in subgroups for tutorials, and students must attend the tutorial in which they are officially enrolled. Attendance to tutorials is required. 2 At the beginning of the course, each student will be asked to register as a presenter/debater for one of the topics to be addressed during tutorials. A typical tutorial starts with an intro- duction of the topic by the TA chairing the session. Then, students registered as presenters for that week will have a few minutes to express oral arguments in support of a position on that topic. All other participants are then invited to react to the main debaters' arguments, to ask further questions, or to contribute to the discussion. Each student is expected to act as a debater at least once during the course. In line with the nature of this course, students are invited to make comparisons between countries to support a view. Unless specified otherwise, tutorials are expected to be on the following questions: 1. Should we reform the electoral system in Canada? 2. How to explain the outcome of the 2015 federal election? 3. Should we lower the legal age of voting to 16? 4. Should the Senate be reformed? Elected? Abolished? 5. Would Canada be better off with a presidential system? 6. Is the Canadian federation too decentralized? Or not enough? 7. Is there enough redistribution in Canada? Or too much? 8. Should we allow more privatization of the Canadian health care system? 9. How can a country deal with language/cultural diversity? Students are evaluated based on their attendance to tutorials and their interventions (both as presenters and discussants). Students are not evaluated based on the merit of their positions on each question, but rather on the quality of their interventions and their ability to use rational arguments and empirical evidence to support their claims. Again, there is no schedule for tutorials in this version of the course outline. The schedule will be determined at the beginning of the course. Written Assignments Written assignments are designed to assess students' ability to conduct scientific research about social phenomena. The assignments consist of short reports (about 2,000{2,500 words, or 7{8 pages with standard fonts) addressing a research question related to the material examined during the course. Students may work alone or in groups of up to two individuals. An exhaustive list of suitable research questions for the two written assignments will be available to students on the course portal via Blackboard. Written assignments are submitted via the Turnitin.com service (see statement below). The late penalty is 2% of the assignment value per day, including weekends. Demands for appeal regarding a grade are to be justified in writing (250 words maximum) and submitted to a TA. Turnitin.com Statement \Normally, students will be required to submit their course essays to Turnitin.com for a review of textual similarity and detection of possible plagiarism. In doing so, students will allow their essays to be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database, where they will be used solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism. The terms that apply to the Universitys use of the Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com web site." 3 Examinations Examinations are divided in two parts. The first part contains true or false, multiple choice and short answer questions. The second part asks students to choose one among a set of essay questions. Three hours are allocated for each examination. The final examination is non-cumulative. Students who do not write the midterm examination should provide appropriate justifica- tions as per University policies (for instance, using the UofT Verification of Illness or Injury Form in the case of illness or injury). For final examinations, those demands are handled by the Faculty of Arts and Science directly. \Explore It" Program This year, we are including a new element to the course: the Explore It program. This is a voluntary career exploration program that will allow you to meet with alumni from the Department of Political Science in their work environment, and to see firsthand how the skills and knowledge gained through this course are translated into a breadth of potential careers. Visits with alumni hosts will last from a half- to a full-day and can include up to eight students. Each experience will differ depending on the alumni host but in all cases, you see an alumnus' career in action, can grow your network and will have the opportunity to consider your education in a wider context. An Explore It orientation will be scheduled around one of the early classes/tutorials introducing you to the program and showing you how to participate. 4 Class Schedule: Summary Date Topic Evaluation Fall Semester September 15 The Origins and Evolution of Democracies I September 22 The Origins and Evolution of Democracies II September 29 Electoral Systems October 6 Political Ideologies and Party Systems October 13 Political Behaviour and Vote Choice I October 20 Political Behaviour and Vote Choice II October 27 Political Participation November 3 Research Methods in the Social Sciences November 10 [Reading Week | No Class] November 17 Federalism v. Unitary Systems Assignment 1 Due November 24 Parliamentary v. Presidential, Bicameralism December 1 The Policy-Making Process I December 8 The Policy-Making Process II December 11{22 Mid-Term Examination Mid-Term Exam Winter Semester January 12 Constitutions and Courts January 19 Schools of Political Economy January 26 Trade Policies and Capital Controls I February 2 Trade Policies and Capital Controls II February 9 Fiscal Federalism and Decentralization February 16 [Reading Week | No Class] February 23 Income Redistribution and Social Welfare March 1 Public Goods, Health and Education I March 8 Public Goods, Health and Education II March 15 Language and the \Quebec Question" Assignment 2 Due March 22 Gender, Multiculturalism and Representation March 29 Media and Interest Groups I April 5 Media and Interest Groups II April 12{29 Final Examination Final Exam Note: Dates for each topic may be adjusted during the semester.
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